13 Stunning Churches in Paris That Most Tourists Miss

One of my favorite things to do in Paris is visit churches. Of course, everyone knows about Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, and Sacré-Cœur, but there are so many other spectacular churches that get surprisingly little attention from tourists.

Some of them are major historic landmarks in their own right. Others are much more obscure, and I probably wouldn’t have discovered them myself if I hadn’t gone out of my way to explore churches around the city.

These are 13 of my favorites, chosen for their beauty, unusual architecture, or fascinating history. I’ve personally visited and photographed every one of them, and I’d recommend them all!

1. Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile

Saint-Eugène-Sainte-Cécile is an absolutely stunning church in the 9th arrondissement. Inside, tall, slender columns painted deep green rise into pointed arches and vaulted ceilings painted a beautiful golden yellow.

The entire ceiling is covered in tiny, repeating motifs, with dark ribs and red and blue accents outlining each section. It’s a really unusual color scheme for a Gothic-style church, and the effect is beautiful.

Built in 1854–1855, this Neo-Gothic church was one of the first in France to use an iron framework instead of traditional stone supports. This made it possible to use much thinner columns than in traditional Gothic churches, creating a much lighter and more airy feeling.

Vibrant stained glass windows line both levels of the church, with three particularly large windows behind the elaborate altar. The lower windows depict all 14 Stations of the Cross, another unique feature of this church.

Address: 4 Rue du Conservatoire, 9th arrondissement

2. Saint-Étienne-du-Mont

Located just behind the Panthéon, Église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is one of the most unusual churches in Paris, and one of my personal favorites. Built between the late 1400s and mid-1600s, it combines Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance architectural styles.

The interior has gleaming white stone walls and soaring vaulted ceilings, but the real highlight is the elaborate stone rood screen, the only surviving example in Paris.

Dating to around 1530, the rood screen separates the nave from the choir and was once used as a platform for reading scripture to the congregation. These screens were common in medieval churches, but most were removed in later centuries to give worshippers a clearer view of the altar.

What makes this one particularly spectacular are the two spiral staircases wrapping around the columns on either side, with intricate stone carvings that almost look like lace.

There are several other features worth looking for as you explore the church:

• Saint Geneviève’s shrine: Dedicated to the patron saint of Paris, the shrine contains a fragment of her original tomb.
• Chapel of Communion: This chapel has vibrant 17th-century stained glass windows displayed at eye level, allowing you to examine their intricate details up close.
• Other historic tombs: The church is the burial place of mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal and playwright Jean Racine.

Address: Place Sainte-Geneviève, 5th arrondissement

3. Notre-Dame-de-Lorette

Also in the 9th arrondissement, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (built 1823-1836) resembles a Greek temple on the exterior, with four Corinthian columns supporting a triangular pediment. Walk inside, though, and if you’re like me, you’ll be blown away by the design.

Inside, an incredible coffered ceiling stretches the length of the nave, with interlocking geometric patterns and decorative rosettes. Two long rows of Doric columns line the nave, with large religious paintings covering the upper walls.

And it’s not just the main ceiling that’s decorated. Nearly every surface of the church is covered in paintings, colorful patterns or sculptural details.

The side aisles have their own coffered ceilings above black-and-white tiled floors, and the arches and domes around the choir are covered in beautiful frescoes.

A fun historical detail is that Claude Monet was baptized here in 1841.

Before you leave the neighborhood, head a little farther back along Rue Laffitte for a fantastic view of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette with the white domes of Sacré-Cœur rising above it in the distance.

Address: 18 bis Rue de Châteaudun, 9th arrondissement

4. Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis

Located in the Marais, Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis was one of the first major churches in Paris to break completely from the traditional Gothic style and embrace the new Baroque architecture coming out of Italy.

Built by the Jesuits between 1627 and 1641, the church was inspired by the Church of the Gesù in Rome, with an elaborate facade featuring multiple levels of Corinthian columns, sculptures and decorative carvings.

Inside, the church has a grand, open nave with soaring arches and a massive dome rising 55 meters (180 feet) overhead. It was one of the earliest large church domes built in Paris and helped influence later churches, including Les Invalides.

The church also contains several notable works of art, including Eugène Delacroix’s Christ in the Garden of Olives.

Interestingly, the church was originally called Saint-Louis. The name Saint-Paul was added in 1802 to commemorate a nearby medieval church that was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Address: 99 Rue Saint-Antoine, 4th arrondissement

5. Notre-Dame-du-Travail

Notre-Dame-du-Travail is located in the 14th arrondissement, not far from Gare Montparnasse, and has quite an interesting origin story. It was built between 1897 and 1902 to serve the working-class population of the neighborhood, including laborers who helped build the exhibits and attractions for the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris.

The church was specifically designed to feel familiar to people who spent their days working in factories. The architect used exposed iron columns and metal trusses, some of which are believed to have come from the Palace of Industry, built for the 1855 World’s Fair.

The result is a surprisingly light and airy interior, with tall iron arches stretching across the nave, windows running along the upper walls and a beautiful wooden parquet floor.

Despite its industrial appearance, the church is quite elegant, and it’s certainly one of the most unusual churches in Paris.

Address: 59 Rue Vercingétorix, 14th arrondissement

6. Saint-Augustin

Église Saint-Augustin is an enormous church in the 8th arrondissement, built between 1860 and 1871 as part of Haussmann’s transformation of Paris. It was designed to be a major landmark where several of the new, wide boulevards met.

The church is a mix of Romanesque, Gothic, and Byzantine styles, with an enormous central dome rising above the surrounding buildings. A large equestrian statue of Joan of Arc stands directly in front of the church, sword raised. Interestingly, an identical statue stands outside Reims Cathedral, where Joan accompanied Charles VII for his coronation in 1429.

The church feels much older than its 19th-century construction date. The large, open interior was made possible by a combination of stone construction and a cast-iron framework, which was unusual for churches at the time. You can actually see the iron framework throughout the church.

There’s a lot of detail that’s easy to miss at first glance. Angels sit atop the columns lining the nave, statues fill niches along the walls, and large paintings fill the spaces above the arches. At the far end of the church, the massive dome rises above the choir, with a ring of stained glass windows around its base and a beautifully decorated canopy over the altar.

Address: Place Saint-Augustin, 8th arrondissement

7. Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés is one of the oldest churches in Paris and has been at the center of the Saint-Germain neighborhood for nearly 1,500 years.

It’s an important example of Romanesque architecture in Paris, with rounded arches, thick stone columns and some Gothic elements added over the centuries.

During the French Revolution, the church was badly damaged and nearly demolished. It underwent a major restoration and redecoration in the 1800s, which gave it the incredibly colorful interior you see today.

The nave ceiling is painted deep blue and covered in gold stars, while the arches and columns are painted in different colors and covered in geometric patterns. Large murals by French painter Hippolyte Flandrin cover the walls, depicting scenes from the Bible.

It’s one of the most colorful churches I’ve visited in Paris. The vibrant interior is pretty jaw-dropping when you first walk in!

Address: 3 Place Saint-Germain des Prés, 6th arrondissement

8. Notre-Dame-des-Victoires

Notre-Dame-des-Victoires is a 17th-century church in the 2nd arrondissement, originally built after King Louis XIII vowed to dedicate a church to the Virgin Mary following his victory at the Siege of La Rochelle in 1628.

What makes this church particularly interesting is the more than 37,000 ex-voto offerings left by worshippers over the years, many with personal messages thanking the Virgin Mary for answered prayers and blessings received.

Thousands of small marble plaques cover the walls, columns, and archways, extending into the side chapels. It’s hard to fully appreciate in photos, but it’s a truly incredible sight in person.

The church also has a lovely classical interior, with rounded arches, an ornate ceiling, and a series of large 18th-century paintings surrounding the choir. These paintings, by Charles-André van Loo, depict scenes from the life of Saint Augustine, along with Louis XIII dedicating the church to the Virgin Mary.

Address: 7 Place des Petits Pères, 2nd arrondissement

9. La Madeleine

La Madeleine sits just north of Place de la Concorde, at the end of the grand Rue Royale. From the outside, it doesn’t look like a typical church at all. With 52 massive Corinthian columns wrapping around all four sides, it looks like an ancient Greek temple, without even a bell tower or cross.

Inside, the church is almost shockingly ornate, with three enormous domes, intricately decorated ceilings, colorful marble columns, gilded details, and large sculptures. The focal point is the altar area, where a dramatic sculpture of Mary Magdalene being carried to heaven by angels sits beneath an enormous fresco.

King Louis XV first commissioned the church in the mid-1700s, but construction stalled during the French Revolution. In 1806, Napoleon ordered it redesigned in a strict Neoclassical style as a monument to the glory of his armies.

After Napoleon’s fall, the plans changed again, and La Madeleine was eventually completed as a Catholic church in 1842.

Address: Place de la Madeleine, 8th arrondissement

10. Saint-Louis-en-l’Île

Right in the middle of Île Saint-Louis, one of the two islands in the Seine in central Paris, is Église Saint-Louis-en-l’Île. The church was built between 1664 and 1726 in the French Baroque style and is dedicated to King Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis.

The interior is extremely ornate, with grand archways, Corinthian columns, intricate stonework, and a soaring dome.

One interesting detail on the exterior is the tall, openwork bell tower, designed to let the strong winds on the island pass through. There’s also an unusual clock hanging over the street, almost like a shop sign.

I was really impressed by this church, and it’s definitely worth popping into while exploring the island, one of my favorite areas to wander around in central Paris.

Address: 19, bis Rue Saint-Louis en l’Île, 4th arrondissement

11. Saint-Vincent-de-Paul

Perched above a large square in the 10th arrondissement, Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul is one of the grander Neoclassical churches in Paris. A wide staircase leads up to the imposing façade, which resembles an ancient Greek temple.

The church was built between 1824 and 1844 on the site of the former Saint-Lazare priory, where Saint Vincent de Paul lived and worked in the 17th century. He dedicated much of his life to helping the poor and sick and founded the Congregation of the Mission here in 1625.

Inside, two levels of massive stone columns run along the nave, but the real highlight is the extraordinary ceiling. It’s covered in intricate geometric patterns, with carved stars, crosses, and gold detailing.

Just below the upper level of columns, a long painted frieze by Hippolyte Flandrin stretches along both sides of the nave. It features 235 religious figures, including saints, bishops, and martyrs.

The church is just two blocks from Gare du Nord, so it’s an easy stop if you’re traveling by train.

Address: Square Cavaillé-Coll, 10th arrondissement

12. Chapelle Notre Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse

In 1830, a young nun named Catherine Labouré reported seeing the Virgin Mary inside a small chapel in Paris. Today, it’s one of Paris’s most important Catholic pilgrimage sites, drawing worshippers from around the world.

Labouré reported three apparitions of the Virgin Mary that year. During one of these visions, she described Mary standing on a globe, with rays of light shining from her hands, and said Mary instructed her to have a medal made depicting what she had seen.

The first medals were distributed in 1832, during a deadly cholera epidemic in Paris. Reports of miraculous healings and answered prayers helped the medal become enormously popular, and it eventually spread around the world.

The chapel itself is quite lovely, with a large painted archway framing the altar, colorful mosaics with gold accents, and several side shrines. Above the main altar is a statue of the Virgin Mary representing the visions described by Catherine Labouré.

In 1897, Pope Leo XIII authorized its ceremonial coronation, a special Catholic honor recognizing the importance of the statue and the devotion associated with it. You can also see the glass tomb of Saint Catherine Labouré, who was canonized in 1947.

I was really surprised by how popular this chapel is. There were people lined up waiting to enter when it opened, and the chapel was packed with worshippers praying even though there wasn’t a service taking place. It’s clearly a place of tremendous religious significance, and I found it really interesting to visit.

Address: 140 Rue du Bac, 7th arrondissement

13. Saint-Sulpice

Saint-Sulpice is one of the largest churches in Paris and is a major landmark of the 6th arrondissement. Built primarily in the 17th and 18th centuries, it combines Baroque and classical architecture, with a distinctive Neoclassical facade featuring two stacked rows of columns between its towers.

The enormous scale of the church is immediately apparent inside, with massive Corinthian columns lining the nave, and large paintings and sculptures decorating the walls and side chapels.

Don’t miss the Chapel of the Holy Angels, which contains three monumental works by French painter Eugène Delacroix, including Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.

Another unusual feature is the 18th-century gnomon, a brass line embedded in the floor and an obelisk used to track the sun’s movement and help calculate the date of Easter.

Saint-Sulpice is also famous for its magnificent Cavaillé-Coll pipe organ, completed in 1862, with more than 6,000 pipes. Some of the world’s most renowned organists have played here, including Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré.

You can hear the organ for free on Sundays, with performances typically scheduled before the 11 a.m. Mass or at 4 p.m. Check the schedule beforehand, but if you can time your visit to hear the organ playing, I highly recommend it.

Address: 2 Rue Palatine, 6th arrondissement

Need More Churches?

Want to discover even more beautiful churches in Paris? Check out my full guide to 25 churches worth visiting in Paris.

Planning the Rest of Your Time in Paris?

If you enjoy exploring Paris’s history, architecture, and lesser-known places, I have plenty more guides to help you plan your trip:

• 30 Hidden Gems in Paris – More fascinating places around the city that many visitors overlook.
• 11 Charming Passageways in Paris – Historic covered arcades and tucked-away streets worth exploring.
• Ultimate List of Things to Do in Paris – 99 sights and experiences, from major landmarks to lesser-known favorites.
• Where to Stay in Paris – A neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown to help you choose the right base.

If you want everything in one place, my Paris travel guide page pulls together neighborhood guides, attraction and museum guides, foodie recommendations, and travel tips in one hub.